Political
leaders the world over praised the Sunday night announcement of the
killing of the al-Qaeda leader, but experts were quick to downplay the
operational significance of his death, saying the wars would continue
and little would change.

This inevitably raises the question of why officials are so keen to
present the death as a positive development for security, when all
indications are that they are expecting things to get worse as a result.

Indeed, the concern is that a number of would-be affiliates keen on establishing themselves will use the death as a chance to make a name for themselves. Bin Laden’s position as a figurehead may have, ironically, been keeping a lid on a number of these groups.